News

April 21, 2010

Crossing State Lines Leads Illinois Woman to $50,000 Lottery Prize

It started out as a typical weekend for one McClure, Ill., woman. Sue Sargent, 55, crossed state lines from Illinois to Missouri as she had done many times before to start her shift at a factory in Cape Girardeau. On her way to work, she stopped at Lil’ Country Store, 17742 State Highway 177 in Jackson, for her weekly Missouri Lottery "Wheel of Fortune®" Scratchers ticket.

Sargent, who worked the night shift on April 17, didn’t realize she was holding a winning ticket until the following morning.

"I couldn’t believe it," she recalled. "I told my daughter, ’I won $50,000!’ She goes, ’No you didn’t.’ We’re all jumping and screaming. The baby woke up, and she was half laughing!"

The mother of two and grandmother of three plans to "get out of debt" with the unexpected windfall.

"I’m going to pay my house off, my bills off and fix my house," she said. "I want to cry, because I’m so happy!"

The first-time Lottery winner added that the recent win is the "best thing that ever happened to me in my whole life."

"Wheel of Fortune®," a $3 game with a top prize of $50,000, officially began on Dec. 9, 2009. The game offers players the chance to win up to seven times on a single ticket. To date, three top prizes and thousands of $3 to $25,000 prizes remain in play.